


you should be standing right next to me (instead of two feet in front of me)

by sadesmae



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Birthday, F/M, Fluff, Getting Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-02-27
Packaged: 2018-01-13 22:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1243333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadesmae/pseuds/sadesmae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He rents a boat. Like an actual fishing boat… because one time she mentioned that she’s never been and that she always kind of wanted to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you should be standing right next to me (instead of two feet in front of me)

**Author's Note:**

> I take the train every day, to and from work. I use my commute strictly to brainstorm and mind-write stories about these two. So this came from one of my "sessions" and is complete fluff. Sorry for any spelling errors, I definitely edited this half asleep.
> 
> Disclaimer: I'm so sad I don't own this show. I might go cry about it right now. I'm also not positive about any specific fishing terms so I left them somewhat vague. My dad is a fisherman and I know nothing.

He rents a boat. Like an actual fishing boat… because one time she mentioned that she’s never been and that she always kind of wanted to go.

Maybe it’s because she has no life and thus has spent countless hours watching Wicked Tuna or maybe its because she knows one of the few things Jake learned from his father was how to fish. But, who knows? 

They go out on the East River and it’s the nicest day. It’s in the mid-60s, the water is gentle, and there’s a little bit of wind. It hasn’t been this nice in weeks and she’s able to wear a thin t-shirt and cropped boyfriend jeans. 

“You look like a J. Crew model.” Jake notes. 

She smiles at him with a look of genuine curiosity and asks, “And how would you know what a J. Crew Model looks like?”

“Sometimes I go through your mail.”

“Nice, Peralta. Nice.”

He shrugs and gives her a toothy grin. She’s not mad and if she were, she wouldn’t be now. He’s taking her fishing. 

He tries to teach her everything he knows about the “sport”. (“It’s not basketball, Jake.” “You’re right, Santiago, basketball is for suckers. Fishing is for men.”) 

He uses words like “stern” and “bow” when describing areas of the boat and keeps shouting, “I feel like we may be nearing an isolated structure!” 

She’s completely overwhelmed. She’s so used to picking up tasks and hobbies rather quickly… not to mention it’s throwing her off that the person teaching her, of all people, is Jake Peralta. 

He sounds smart, like he’s been doing this his whole life. She guesses that he has, especially if he has his boating license. 

“When did you learn to drive a boat?” She asks. She’s sitting at “the bow” of the boat, leaning back into the metal rail she figures was meant to keep people like her from getting excited and falling over. 

“I don’t know… ten years ago. I was bored one summer, so I took a couple weeks off work—I was a camp counselor, don’t ask— and took all these classes. It was pretty annoying, but afterwards, my friends and I would take turns renting shitty boats and spend our nights on the water.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t peg you for fisherman or a… boatman?” She pouts, trying to think of the right word.

“The word would be Captain, Amy. Your favorite word.”

“I won’t deny that ‘captain’ is one my favorite words. So, camp counselor?”

“It was a summer job.”

“Tell me. It’s my birthday.”

Oh yeah, it’s also her birthday… and she’s spending the day with Jake because he asked her to over a month and a half ago. He said that he knew it was her special day, but that he had something equally as special planned. She could have said no. However, she was too curious and he asked so far in advance— that even she didn’t have anything planned yet.

“Oh, so you’re pulling that card. Fine! I was the camp’s infamous arts and crafts wizard. No one, and I mean no one, knew how to glue a pom-pom to a paper plate better than I did.”

She bursts into laughter and looks up to see him blush. He recovers quickly though, she notices. She’s been noticing a lot of the reactions he makes when he thinks she’s not paying attention lately.

“Do you want to a catch a fish or not, Amy? Or do you want to spend your day laughing at Camp Mohegan’s Local Celebrity?”

She quiets down immediately. “I want to catch a fish.”

They start again. This time Amy listens a lot harder and Jake talks a lot slower. He shows her how to hold the rod and how to let go of the line. She practices casting the line without bait so that she doesn’t “kill someone.” (“Who is there to kill? Besides you.” “Besides me? Besides me. How would you get back to shore?” “I’m sure I would fine a way… or maybe a handsome sailor would help me.” “Sailors don’t exist, Amy.”)

He’s standing behind her, helping her hold the rod and guide the line into the water. She knows she isn’t very good at this, but she admires his patience with her. She knows if the roles were reversed, she’d have given up ages ago. 

When he’s satisfied that she’s made a decent enough cast, he tells her that now they have to wait. 

“We wait?” 

“Yes, the fish don’t latch on to bait the second they see it. It can take a little while.”

“Oh, okay. I was confused.”

“That’s alright. Now, we have some time for you to open your present.”

“Present?” She chirps out. She loves presents and certainly wasn’t expecting one, because renting a boat and taking her fishing is a present enough. She’s excited to see what it is, but she can’t accept it.

“Jake… you already did all of this for me. I can’t take another present from you.”

“Shut up. I insist.” He forcefully shoves a gift bag into her hands and takes a few steps back from her, giving her some room to open the gift.

She bites her lips as she pushes away the blue tissue paper. Inside, there’s a wooden picture frame, with a delicate, gold drawing of a fish. She doesn’t know what kind, but it’s beautiful. 

“It’s just something to remember our fishing trip by. I thought it would go well with all your doilies and figurines.” 

She lightly punches him in the arm and looks back at the picture frame. The gift was so thoughtful… and so not the Jake she’s used to witnessing. She doesn’t mind the silly, overbearing Jake as much as everyone thinks (or as much she used to think), but she likes this softer, more mature side too. 

“Thank you so much. I really love it. It’s the perfect gift to memorialize my first fishing trip. I know just know where to put it.” 

“You know what else is a perfect way to memorialize your first fishing trip? A selfie!”

In a matter of seconds, he has his smart phone on camera mode and he’s hovering behind her smiling and making a thumps up sign. He’s ridiculous and she can’t remember the last time her birthday was this great. She leans into camera frame and right before she knows the picture will be taken, she presses her lips to his cheek. It’s quick and barely even a kiss. She tells herself it’s more for the picture than anything, but she knows she lying. 

He pulls his face away from her, looks her in the eyes, and there’s this moment. They have these sometimes. It’s like they’re waiting for the other to make some sort of move or speak an unspoken truth. They’re always bantering and games, but they’re a lot more too. She thinks they both realize that in moments like these. 

She doesn’t know what to do, but she wants to do or say something because it’s birthday and if there’s a way for it to get even that much more special… she so wants that. But, then there’s a noise and Jake looks behind her. 

“Your rod, it’s moving. You might have caught something?”

“I might have caught something!” She turns around and sees the rods slightly shaking. “Oh my god, what do I do?”

She runs over to her rod and picks it up the way she was shown, careful to not make too much movement. He comes up behind her and she can’t help herself, she leans into his back and listens as he voices various commands. 

“That’s it, you got this! This fish is yours!” He yells. She’s grinning and laughing and attempting to reel in this fish. The line is shortening and the rod is getting heavier. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god.” She repeats full of excitement.

“Give it a couple more spins!”

She does as he says and a minute later, she’s looking a small striped bass. 

“Holy shit! I caught a fish!” She screams. She hands him the rod, the fish still hanging from the hook, and pumps one fist into the air. “Yeah!”

Jake watches her as he removes the fish from the hook. He comes towards her with the fish in his hands and she backs away, her eyes bulging. 

“I don’t want to touch it.” She says with a wave of her hand.

“Fine, I’ll hold it. You a take a picture so I can get all the credit.”

“No way, I caught that fish. We’ll both get in it.”

Amy reaches for his phone in his back pocket and positions herself next to him, but still a safe space away from the fish. She holds the phone on camera mode in front of their faces, where Jake has brought the fish uncomfortably close to his mouth.”

“Maybe’s it’s my fish princess.” He quips. “I have to kiss her.”

“Just smile, okay. No funny stuff. One, two, three!” On three, she takes the picture and Jake smiles, normal for once, and she decides it’s the best picture of them she’s ever seen. 

She watches as he carefully throws the fish back in the water and rinses his hands in the green, salty ripples. He comes towards her with his wet hands and she laughs, cowering away once again. 

“No Jake, I don’t want your wet, fishy hands all over me. That’s disgusting.”

What he does is actually far more disgusting and what’s more disgusting is how much she enjoys it. He cups her face with his gross hands and kisses her hard, but just a few times. He pulls back nervously and runs one of his hands through his hair as the other scratches his neck.  
“What was that?” She asks with a smirk on her face and a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

He sits down at the wheel of the boat and clicks a couple buttons before looking back up at her. “Happy Birthday, Amy.”

Her face softens and she goes to sit beside him at the wheel. “Scoot over.” 

He moves over and then she’s beside him, holding onto his arm and leaning up to whisper in his ear. “I like you too.” 

She thinks it's safe to say that this has been a special birthday.


End file.
